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Autistic adults may have elevated risks of being involved in cyber-related crime, with Flinders University experts warning that these people might fall into such crimes unwittingly.

New research published in the Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders compared responses from 138 autistic and 206 nonautistic adults to assess their awareness and responses to cyber-dependent crime, or their possible engagement with crimes connected to cyberspace.

"This latest study, including validation checks to improve the reliability of the findings, found that the relationship between autism and cyber-dependent crime was not due to autistic adults having more advanced digital skills or difficulties with perspective-taking," says Dr. Alliyza Lim, a clinical psychologist and research fellow at Flinders University.

"Our preliminary findings suggest that specific autistic characteristics may be associated with engagement in different types of cybercrime—but we are not exactly sure why that is.

"However, if specific characteristics of autism make people more vulnerable to becoming involved in cybercrime—and potentially inadvertently—there is a need for greater education and safeguarding measures to protect autistic individuals in cyberspace."

Cyber threats are rising in Australia. In 2025–26, the federal Australian Cyber Security Center responded to more than 1,500 cybersecurity incidents, an increase of more than 20%, and reported potential malicious activity more than 4,400 times, almost an 80% increase on the previous year.

's National Crime Agency from 2022 found that 17% of subjects referred for cybercrime activity either had a diagnosis of autism or self-identified as autistic (compared to the general prevalence rate of autism of about 2%).

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